well I don't mean you laugh at Hot Charlie, but I agree there are certain athletes worth LOLing at. My list just includes Zambrano. I'm sure your list includes Carpenter.

Actually, no. I like Carpenter, he was on my fantasy team when he was a Blue Jay. I was glad to see him do well. It doesn't break my heart that he's hurt though, since I think the Cubs will need all the help they can get to catch the Cardinals (who are substantially better than I expected them to be).

Now, if you want to talk about David Eckstein or the Unholy Triumvirate of Joaquin Andujar, John Tudor and Ozzie Smith....

John Tudor was the first swear word I ever saw on live TV. It was during game 7 of the 1985 World Series after he gave up a home run. I was 7. It was magic - until that time, I thought the only person to say f*** was my dad.

edit: FWIW, there are some Cubs that I'd never want to see anything bad happen to. I love - covet, even - Aramis for Men (my wife's nickname for him), and I liked Big Dick Harden when he was in Oakland (as long as he stayed healthy) and was genuinely worried that if he stayed healthy in Chicago that it'd be a great thing for the Cubs. But Zambrano and Soriano can DIAF.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

John Tudor was the first swear word I ever saw on live TV. It was during game 7 of the 1985 World Series after he gave up a home run. I was 7. It was magic - until that time, I thought the only person to say f*** was my dad.

I bought domain in a drunken haze last summer, after Tudor came into a Cubs-Cardinals Old Timers Game in Joliet, IL. He's 50-some years old now and he STILL went 1-2-3 in the only inning he pitched. He came in to a chorus of boos from Section 110, Row 3, Seat 11 and he left to the same chorus. God, I hate that guy.

Oh, I'm sure there will be more big names to come this season. Some of these guys who are putting up some of these unreal numbers are probably juiced. I'm still waiting for the other 103 on that list on which A-Rod was on. *sigh*

Maybe Manny, like the rest of us, expected Damon's arm to come up short.

After Swisher pitched his inning I was reading a thread in which people were proposing other position players they'd like to see pitch. My favorite: "Johnny Damon: he'd be like Jamie Moyer, but without the fastball"

Oh, I'm sure there will be more big names to come this season. Some of these guys who are putting up some of these unreal numbers are probably juiced. I'm still waiting for the other 103 on that list on which A-Rod was on. *sigh*

You won't see that list because A-Rod's name was already an illegal leak.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

His handling of this has been extremely well done and honestly it comes across as being true. He isn't going to challenge this, he accepted responsibility, he pointed out that he's passed numerous drug tests over the past few years. Really he could walk away with this still being a first ballot Hall of Famer if the doctor says that this is indeed what happens and the front office of the MLB doesn't try to drag him through the dirt.

I like Manny, I like Manny a hell of a lot more than anyone else who has been caught. Nothing about Manny has ever suggested his talent required use of a performance-enhancing drug. I think this is bad for baseball as a whole depending on how it goes. But, I think if there is a absolute super star who could walk away looking truly regretful about a mistake and not trying to get an edge... it is Manny.

His handling of this has been extremely well done and honestly it comes across as being true.

Was he having difficulty conceiving?

Maybe? So far he's simply handled it better than every other player who has been caught/seriously suspected. Manny is the type of person who could be seen as the last domino to fall. Could signal a "healing" processor of some sorts that will give him a lot more forgiveness than a player of Bonds type could ever have. Manny could still end up in the Hall of Fame if all done right and some plausible explaining was done.

His handling of this has been extremely well done and honestly it comes across as being true.

Was he having difficulty conceiving?

Maybe?

I didn't realize Manny had a uterus. Maybe they should have hired him instead of the governator to star in Junior.

Skrying wrote:

So far he's simply handled it better than every other player who has been caught/seriously suspected.

Claiming that he has an undisclosed personal medical problem that requires him to jet across the country to see some random doctor rather than a team physician and take a female fertility drug that just happens to have common performance-enhancing uses as well isn't really "handling it better." What idiot doctor would give him such a medication for any legitimate ailment without seeking approval from MLB? Seriously dude, take off the LA anti-reality goggles and look at this thing with a critical eye. So far we've got elevated testosterone, a positive test for a female fertility drug commonly used after steroid cycles and sometimes as a performance enhancer on its own, and a lame excuse from Manny.

Claiming that he has an undisclosed personal medical problem that requires him to jet across the country to see some random doctor rather than a team physician and take a female fertility drug that just happens to have common performance-enhancing uses as well isn't really "handling it better." What idiot doctor would give him such a medication for any legitimate ailment without seeking approval from MLB? Seriously dude, take off the LA anti-reality goggles and look at this thing with a critical eye. So far we've got elevated testosterone, a positive test for a female fertility drug commonly used after steroid cycles and sometimes as a performance enhancer on its own, and a lame excuse from Manny.

Detailing the situation has nothing at all to do with public perception of what has happened or what should happen to Manny. In fact it has absolutely zero to do with how the situation is being viewed. My LA anti-reality goggles? Because I wear those coming from Missouri and cheering for the Cardinals... So far what we have is what appears to be very bad situation but I've yet to see wide and vocal calls for his head. Which is exactly what did happen when the truth about A-Rod came out, what will always happen with Barry Bonds, why Mark McGwire is going to be in the shadows for years, and why Sammy Sosa probably can't walk out on a Chicago street without being murdered. But hey, however you want to view the public perception is up to you, but at least state something about that point instead of the complete nothing you just wrote.

Edit: Now it appears to be turning a bit. I guess even Manny can't stand the heat. My point early still stands, you said nothing about the actual perception of the events...

Detailing the situation has nothing at all to do with public perception of what has happened or what should happen to Manny. In fact it has absolutely zero to do with how the situation is being viewed. My LA anti-reality goggles? Because I wear those coming from Missouri and cheering for the Cardinals...

You sure seem to have a blind spot for LS sports figures, regardless of where you live.

Skrying wrote:

So far what we have is what appears to be very bad situation but I've yet to see wide and vocal calls for his head. Which is exactly what did happen when the truth about A-Rod came out, what will always happen with Barry Bonds, why Mark McGwire is going to be in the shadows for years, and why Sammy Sosa probably can't walk out on a Chicago street without being murdered. But hey, however you want to view the public perception is up to you, but at least state something about that point instead of the complete nothing you just wrote.

If you want "the right way" to do it, consider the public perception of some of the people that were caught and/or admitted using but didn't jump to your mind at all. Also, consider that this is going to be more than a 2-day story, and what's going to matter is the public perception after whatever's going to come out will come out. You're seriously jumping the gun if you think this story's done and been fully handled.

Skrying wrote:

Edit: Now it appears to be turning a bit.

Surprise, surprise. A lame excuse for a sketchy as hell situation doesn't hold up for more than a day or so. Let me contain my shock.

Skrying wrote:

I guess even Manny can't stand the heat. My point early still stands, you said nothing about the actual perception of the events...

No, your point doesn't stand. You just said that things are turning a bit. He didn't handle it "right". He threw out a crappy excuse with enough holes in it to be shredded in about a day. His handling of it wasn't "extremely well done" and hasn't "honestly come across as being true". It's just another variation on the same old "give an excuse no one will end up believing" spiel that's been tried a hundred times before. He hasn't accepted responsibility, he's just conceded defeat and thrown out a halfassed excuse. He's not looking "truly regretful about a mistake and trying not to get an edge".

"Public perception" was never going to buy that swiss cheese story for more than a day(and the first time you mentioned "public perception" was just now, anyway).